I Baked a Condolence Casserole

hell yeah.

Bet it had potatoes!

Well it was lasagna.

Which might be a bit too exotic to embody the purely my-grandmother-would've-done-this-and-my-parents-never-did respectability that has kinda whapped me over the head. (Oh my god. I baked a condolence casserole.)

But still. It's a level of respectability I had not yet achieved.

Oh, lasagna is perfect condolence food.

Well done my child. On this day you have become a woman.

Becoming an actual grown up is not all it's cracked up to be.

You've passed into the outer ring of adulthood. Or is that the inner ring? I need a map of the rings of adulthood.

I hope they enjoyed your Condoleeza Casserole.

Well, yes.

Now come sagging boobies and menopause.

But still...it's a big moment.

Sorry, didn't mean to take away from the moment. Just, there are days...

I seem to be the only one here who has no idea of what a condolence casserole is.

No, no need to explain. Carry on!

My friend's father died unexpectedly, and I baked a casserole (well, lasagna) and brought it over to her so she would have some food on hand (I made lasagna 'cause it's nice and freezable, so she could eat then or later). I wasn't the only one, she was set for about a week.

edit: she has four kids, so it was also about her being able to feed her family with minimal effort/ fuss while dealing with other stuff. She's an only child and her father was divorced and so she had to do all the funeral arrangements, etc.

Oh no, soz! I referred to it as a "Condoleeza" casserole on the Vietnamese Vets thread! Oh, sorry!

No worries!

Oh, but wait. I get your point, about taking the time to make some food so the family doesn't have to concern themselves with cooking during the mourning period, but...

Lasagna is not a casserole. If and when a member of my family dies and a lasagna appears from a thoughtful neighbor I will belt out a tune of joy.

A casserole, to me, anyway, means something with macaroni and tuna fish and those awful dried French onions cooked on the top. Or green beans and those onions, but never a lasagna.

lasagna, takes, like forever to prepare, so you've gone above and beyond your call of good neighbor duty.

OK then.

See, that's the thing, I haven't heard yet. I had to overlap the noodles a bit to make it fit in the pan, and it was recipe that called for putting the noodles straight in without pre-boiling, and I'm worried that the overlapped noodles remained hard and inedible. Which would undo the respectability thing quite a bit. (Condolence casserole: good. Inedible condolence casserole: not so much.)

By the way, so far as I know it's not a real term/ phrase, that's just what I've been calling it in my head.

It's an excellent term!

You have the wrong lasagna recipe. I have microwave recipe - 20 minutes to prepare, 'bout and hour to cook.

I know a lady in Lubbock that has a cassarole cozy. It's a quilted wrap-around thing, with little ties, and pockets for utensils.

Some people are way too prepared.

Edit: hand-made, I might add.

I need one!

I took it over when it was still hot and had this precarious towel set-up. (If I'd had to brake suddenly I would've had lasagna all over the inside of my car, probably.)

Wanting a casserole cozy has to be the next ring up. The trick is to stop before I have a goose with seasonal outfits outside my door.